A typical prior art field sequential color camera is designed such that a color separation filter is rotated by means of a motor or a light-emitting strobe or diode is allowed to emit light to obtain field sequential color signals which are in turn synthesized into color image signals.
On the other hand, the field sequential color camera is used with infrared or near infrared light added to the emissions R, G and B (red, green and blue) for the purpose of correcting flaws for photographic films, observing the surface and interior of the skin of a human being, or it is used with ultraviolet light added to the emissions with a view to inspecting semiconductor patterns. In this regard, see JP(A)2003-333608.
With a TV camera that takes 1/60 (or 1/30) second to produce one image, however, there are problems that when images are taken in a field sequential mode while R, G, B visible light plus invisible light such as infrared or ultraviolet light are emitted, four frames are needed, and cameras or subjects shake to blur images, or much time is needed for measurement.
In view of such situations, an object of the invention is to provide a field sequential color camera system wherein a light-emitting strobe or diode with R, G, B visible light plus invisible light such as infrared light or ultraviolet light is combined with an illumination unit capable of emissions in a field sequential mode, so that color images of high definitions can be finished and obtained at two frames.